Searching for a Star
by ArieSemir
Summary: The Digital World is slowly dying, and who can save it? The Digimon Emperor and Yolei. Kenyako, adventure, hilarity, and angst ensue--COMPLETE!
1. Yolei Plans to Save the World

Searching for a Star  
  
Author's Note--Wow a real Kenyako. It's been a while. I never actually finished writing one before. But I promise I will this time!   
  
I should add that they are teenagers in this book, 16-17 ish. Why? Because the thought of 12 year olds falling in love slightly creeps me out.   
  
Read! Review!   
  
Because what's better than an epic quest and good old fashioned Kenyako lurvin'? That's right. Nothing!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Poromon, wake up."  
  
The adorable little blob opened an eye and yawned. "What time is, Yolei?"  
  
A tall girl with... was that lavendar hair?... huffed. "We're going to save the Digital World once and for all. Besides, it's a weekend. Now come on!"  
  
The marshmallow-thing sighed and morphed into a rather more dignified hawk. For reasons no one could explain, he now spoke with a faint British accent. "My dear, I hope that you have prepared this plan more carefully than your last."  
  
Yolei blushed. "Hey, I spent a lot more time thinking about this one!" Somehow, Hawkmon managed to raise an eyebrow. "Well... more than an hour this time... a little." She straightened herself. "Listen, I know that it's going to work." She smiled. "And you're coming with me whether you like it or not!"   
  
Hawkmon had little choice. "Perhaps you would be so kind as to let your partner in on your plot, then?" He stretched his wings and yawned hugely.   
  
The girl shrugged, eyes sparkling. "Maybe. And I promise that, after we save the world, I won't tell anyone that you almost made me go back to bed."  
  
"How kind of you." 


	2. Ken Rudely Ruins Yolei's Plan to Save th...

The girl crouched under a digital tree, glaring at the cold rain. "It's simple. Izzy was complaining about the latest virus going around, and... it just hit me. Ken's control of this world is through computers, and he's expecting us to fight him with our digimon. We've been fighting this war for years, because he has a lot of Digimon who waste away quickly, and we have a few digimon who can rebuild their strength--and we treat them right."  
  
Hawkmon mumbled something about being awakened at three in the morning.  
  
Yolei was too immersed in her work to hear her partner's remark, luckily for him. She typed at her D3 furiously and, in her excitement, failed to notice a soft whoosh that grew more and more pronounced against the staccato rapping of the rain on grass and leaves. Hawkmon, for his part, realized too late what was happening. He groaned. "Yolei... my dear..."  
  
"Shhh, I almost got it." She waved her hand vaguely in Hawkmon's direction. A shot of bright fire scorched the handheld computer. She turned, more annoyed than anything. "Hey, since when do you shoot fire?" At his mournful expression, she turned herself further.   
  
"Clever plan, girl." A slender young man grinned at her from his perch atop a winged digimon. "I could use your skills in maintenance of my Empire. If you ever realize the inferiority of your... friends," his lips curled in distaste, "I would be happy to set you to work for me. I would appreciate your unique talents more than they ever could."  
  
Yolei scoffed. "You wish." She cast one last look at her ruined D3. "Well, you might as well let us go." Shivering, she crossed her arms and stuck out her lower lip. She really hated this weather, come to think of it.  
  
The Emperor pretended to consider this. "It is three thirty in the morning and very unpleasant here. You're right."  
  
Yolei's head jerked up. "I am? I mean, of course I am." She stared at him, mystified. Hawkmon fluttered near his partner, equally confused.  
  
"You are. But I would hate to think that I came out here for nothing. I think that a hostage might... shake up this infernal stalemate that has plagued our little war."  
  
The girl paled. "A hostage? Umm, I don't think that would be very good." She chuckled nervously. "You-you know how Davis can be. He'll just charge in and ruin everything. Yeah, that's Davis for you."   
  
"Quite right," Hawkmon chirped up. Ken and Yolei shot him twin glares, and he ducked behind the latter.  
  
The Emperor's twisted grin never reached his eyes, hidden behind black glasses. "And you're amusing. Pity." At an elaborate hand-gesture, five digimon stepped out of the shadows. Five tall, lean, tortured shapes Yolei couldn't identify. If she had her D3, she could've looked them up in an instant, but noooo.  
  
Hawkmon leapt into the sky and sped away. Yolei silently wished him luck; if he could avoid Ken's sectors, he could wait until the digidestined came and tell them what had happened to his partner. Suddenly, she realized that her glasses had fogged up. All she could see now were dark shadows advancing on her. Well, Ken had another thing coming if he thought she would passively let herself be taken by... whatever those things were. She screamed shrilly and ran straight into the nearest one, as best she could judge. Yolei had always liked the element of surprise. 


	3. A Spirit, a Star, and a Shadow

Water streamed down her lenses, so Yolei could, at the moment, see nothing at all. After a few seconds, though, she thought that she had run too far. Her aim shouldn't have been so inaccurate, and those things should have been swarming on her by now. She slowed, stopped, and removed her glasses, squinting through the rain. Only one figure remained. She set her slightly less wet glasses back on her face, and the figure came into focus. It was the Emperor, looking even more confused than her--and much more irritated. "What have you done, girl?"  
  
Her eyes tightened. "Oh, come on. We're the same age, Ken. It's Yolei."  
  
"I am the Emperor, and you will address me as such!" He looked as if he wished to continue, but he must have begun to realize how ridiculous he looked, standing soaking wet and shaking his fist with no backup.  
  
"Yeah, sure, Emperor, if you call me Yolei."  
  
As Yolei had earlier, Ken scoffed. "You wait until I have an army at my back. Then I will call you what I wish."   
  
The girl laughed. "I will, Ken. I'll wait." She then began singing a song that seemed composed solely of the Emperor's name.   
  
BOOM!!  
  
Both Yolei and Ken instinctively ducked at the deafening crash and searing flash of light that cut their terse banter short.  
  
"Silence, children!"   
  
As teenagers, neither was terribly fond of this address. Ken rose first and shouted back something about respect that was lost in a great gust of wind.  
  
A being appeared out of swirling water and leaves, a creature of shining silver and glacial blue. It looked human, with flowing pale hair and matching robes that shifted with the wind, except for its enormous size.   
  
"You, boy-child. Silence!" This was definitely a roar. Ken quieted in the face of something so large and mysterious. "I have a task for you two." The mortal pair exchanged looks.   
  
"Um, I'm sorry, sir... ma'am... but we're not friends. We're kind of... involved in a war. He's the bad guy," she finished quickly.  
  
This time, the thing did not quite roar. "I care not for your petty rivalries. For whatever reason, this world is vitally important to the two of you, whether to satisfy your dark dreams of domination or as a haven from your native world. That binds you closer together than you know. And if you wish to preserve this world, you will have to embark upon a quest to discover its salvation."  
  
On the one hand, it was a very strange and completely baseless claim... binding them together indeed. One the other, this being had appeared out of thunder and lightning, as powerful beings always did in epics. Yolei hoped this wouldn't turn into an epic.  
  
Ken sneered. "Impressive parlor tricks. Tell us why we should embark upon this quest of yours."  
  
The being turned his eyes, like glowing white fire, upon the boy. "You are fortunate that I do not tire easily, boy-child." Without a word or gesture, the rain cleared and the moon and stars shone serenely upon the odd gathering. Ken's midnight blue and black uniform flickered to the grey uniform of his school, then back. Even his hair changed for that split second. Yolei thought she saw something flicker above his head... a crest engraved with a symbol she couldn't recognize. She shook her head. Ken with a crest. Ridiculous.  
  
"It is not unreasonable of you to wonder who I am. You have met the guardians of this land?" He did not stop to wait for a response. "The tiniest blade of grass here is to those guardians what the guardians are to me. You could say that I am... an angel of this world. I know the boy-child regards this world as little more than a child's game, but he will learn that it is much more. Just as your world posesses its living spirits, so does this one. I am one of these spirits. And I am asking you children to save this world you cherish so much from an evil as powerful as I. You are little more than infants, playing at your games, but this is deadly serious." Incredibly, he smiled softly.   
  
"As powerful as I am, I cannot save this world of mine from destruction. Indeed, none of this world can. Only outsiders, like you. You must begin immediately. I fear I have waited too long already. The way will not be long but extremely difficult. I will not tell you death awaits you if you fail, for it does not... but for this world, it does. All life shall wither away until only the rocks and machinery remain. Eventually, the dark which threatens this world will threaten yours, unless you are able to halt its spread."  
  
Yolei, who was a bit more accustomed to these charges to save the world, stepped forward timidly. "Then what do we have to do?"  
  
"There is a cave on Infinity Mountain. You must climb its treacherous slopes and find this cave. It lays in the sun and sparkles in its rays. Then you shall descend, deep into the very roots of the mountain. There in the dark live creatures you cannot imagine, which you cannot allow to deter you from your journey. Whether you kill them or not means little to me. Across a black river you will notice a weak light in the darkness. Follow that light, and you will find a star, buried at the end of an ancient road. Because of a shadow, rising from Infinity to cast its darkness over the world, this star is dying. This star has lit this world like a beacon, attracting its unique forms of life and sustaining the balance of light and dark from within its mountain home. This shadow does not wish to dominate, like the boy-child here, but to annihilate. It would immediately sense a native of this world, but you two shall remain safe, outsiders as you are. It will not recognize you until you have taken the star."  
  
"And... and what do we do when we have the star?" The moon darkened for a moment, and a shadow seemed to pass over the stars. Yolei shivered.   
  
"If you have found it soon enough, I shall appear to you as I have now and take it."  
  
Despite himself, Ken was intrigued. "And if we do not?"  
  
The silvery being regarded him quietly. "You shall know." An icy breeze ruffled the hair of the two humans, carrying an unpleasant odor Ken couldn't quite place. "The shadow has begun to manifest itself. You can see it and feel it. You must begin as soon as I depart." From within his billowing robes, the spirit withdrew a lantern. "One of you must take this and keep it safe. Inside the mountain, there will be no light until you near the star. And the other will take this." This time he produced a dagger. The hilt sparkled and gleamed like a diamond, refracting tiny rainbows on the spirit's silvery flesh. The blade was a jagged, wicked instrument--dull grey and hooked. It seemed rough and primitive above the jewel-like hilt.   
  
"We all know which one 'the Emperor' will take," Yolei muttered, mimicking his voice when she pronounced his title.  
  
And then, without any word of farewell or guidance or well-wishing, the spirit disappeared. Clouds scudded over the starscape, but the rain did not return. Hesitantly, Yolei reached for the lantern. It shed a soft light in a wide circle and warmed her somehow. As she had predicted, Ken took the dagger and placed in somewhere inside his uniform.  
  
For a moment, they were silent.  
  
"So... do you think he's telling the truth?" Yolei finally ventured. She really didn't like awkward silences.  
  
Ken appeared deep in thought. "I believe so. He demonstrated his powers, and recently, I have noticed strange shadows in this world. And... spells of cold, like a minute of winter in the middle of summer." He looked up, usual expression of disdain back on his pale face. "If we are the hope of this world, girl, I am afraid very soon we both will have a lot more time on our hands." 


	4. Apples and Arguments

Yolei woke up with a jolt, as it struck her that her alarm hadn't wakened her. She couldn't be late again, couldn't afford a detention. Blindly, she groped for her glasses on her nightstand... and found that, though she did locate her glasses, her nightstand was mysteriously absent. "What the-" she muttered. Still half-asleep, she fumbled her glasses onto her face and gasped. Why on earth was she sleeping on the ground? Her eyes landed on the still figure a short ways from her, and she sighed. Oh, right. The quest. She rubbed her eyes and walked over to where her digital nemesis slept. A small smile flitted across her face. He really didn't look so abhorrent asleep.   
  
"First time I've seen the Emperor without his shades," she said softly to herself. Even his hair looked a bit more sane, dishevelled from sleep instead of sticking up at its habitual crazy angles. He even smiled a little in his sleep.   
  
A mischevious impulse crept over Yolei. While it was true that he was the feared and hated Digimon Emperor, he was also a teenage boy. And Yolei was a teenage girl who loved shaking up teenage boys who didn't have a sense of humor. It was too bad she didn't have a can of whipped cream with her.  
  
She knelt next to the slumbering boy and leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Ken, it's me." Quickly, she ran through a list of celebrities boys generally considered hot. "It's Tyra Banks." The smile on his face grew, and he mumbled something. "Oh Ken, you're so much more mature than all the celebrity boys I know. You... you're a real man. You're what I need to... satisfy me."   
  
The young man's eyes drifted open. They were an unusual shade of violet that Yolei had forgotten, fighting him so long as the Digimon Emperor. She hastily turned and pretended to examine the ground. "Wha... where is she?" he asked groggily.  
  
Yolei faced him and put on her most innocent expression. "I'm the only here. Were you expecting someone else?"   
  
He sat up and narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing here?" She raised her eyebrows and looked expressively around them. Suspiciously, he glanced away from her and scanned their surroundings. "Oh. Now I remember. We're the sole hope of the digital world?"  
  
She nodded. "That's right. Now, Mr... um, Spirit guy told us that time was running out, so I think we should get going."  
  
Ken rose and glared imperiously down at her. "And where do you suggest we go, girl? Unless you carry a compass and a map of the Digital World with you, we're lost in this forest. I know that Infinity Mountain is west and slightly north of here but no more than that"  
  
Yolei scrambled to her feet. "Gee, you know, my D3 would've been perfect for that." He didn't even bat an eye. "But luckily for you, I was a Wilderness Girl for a few years. Give me ten minutes, and I'll have us headed west." She rummaged around the forest floor until she found a good, solid stick. She planted it in the ground and dug a small hole to mark where its shadow fell. "Now we wait."  
  
Silence.  
  
And more silence.  
  
"I think I'll go, uh, see if I can find us anything to eat. If I yell at you, yell back. I don't want to get lost." Yolei brushed off her dark jeans and searched for a tree or bush bearing fruit. It was early autumn here, so ripe fruit should hang plentiful on the vines. She was glad that she had thought to change into clothes before setting out for this place last night. She would hate to be stuck here in her pajamas. "Hey!" she shouted.  
  
"What?" an irritable voice replied.  
  
Yolei rolled her eyes. She would rather be stranded here with Davis, and that was saying something. After only a few minutes, she discovered a small stand of apple trees. Earlier in the year, fragrant white and pink blossoms would have decorated those branches, but an even more inviting sight presented itself now. Small, red and yellow apples hung heavily from the trees' limbs. She jumped, grasping for the fruit but failed miserably.   
  
Quickly, she shimmied up one of the trees and plucked as many of the apples as she could fit in her shirt, the bottom held up to form a sort of bag against her chest. Mimi would've shaken her head in dismay at the girl's mistreatment of her formerly pristine white shirt.   
  
"Hey!" she shouted.  
  
"What?"  
  
She retraced her steps and found Ken lounging against a tree trunk. Carefully, she took the apples from her shirt and set them near the stick, upright in the dirt. She made another hole at the location of its shadow and smiled. "West is that way. I hope these apples aren't wormy or something."  
  
Ken gingerly took one, disgust clear on his face. She noticed that he had returned his glasses to his face.   
  
"Oh come on, it won't kill you. You really should get out more. It can't be healthy for you to stay inside all day." Her own skin had developed a light tan over the summer months that had not yet begun to fade. She inspected her apple for spots and worm holes, then bit into it. It was sweet and flavorful and a little tart, all at the same time. "They're pretty good."  
  
Grimacing, the Digimon Emperor nibbled at the apple he'd chosen. His face cleared a little when it didn't kill him or explode in his face. "Then let's go." His voice could've frozen molten lava.  
  
Yolei gathered up the rest of the apples and stuffed them into the satchel she had brought with her. She thanked Providence again for her planning the night before. "This way, your Majesty," she said mockingly and set out.   
  
Ken was too annoyed with his present circumstances to lord over Yolei much, at least while they walked. And they walked for a long time. If they had not been in a forest, shaded by huge, ancient trees, both would've turned a bright red by the end of the day. The sun was pleasantly warm and a breeze blew gently, ruffling the greenery.  
  
Yolei stopped short. "Uhhhh, Ken?" He glared and didn't reply. "All right, be that way. Emperor?"   
  
"What?"  
  
"Shhh... do you hear that?" He waited expectantly for a few seconds, then shook his head. "I hear nothing, girl. Just the wind rustling the leaves."  
  
Yolei shook her head. "In case you didn't notice, there is no wind right now. Something else is rustling." She peered around, but only vegetation met her gaze. "Well, whatever it is, it's staying out of sight." And with that, she started walking again.  
  
After several hours, Ken began to tire. When he was younger and a top athlete, he would've been able to keep up with this girl all day. Now he stayed indoors and controlled his empire from his fortress, with little chance for exercise. Embarrassed, he had to call for Yolei before she turned around.  
  
"What's wrong," she called out irritably. Several times, she had tried to make casual conversations, but Ken had squashed those efforts effectively. She saw him sitting on a bent tree trunk and nodded. "Oh, okay. I guess this is a good time to stop." She tossed him an apple, which he caught and ate. "It does look a little darker. This looks like as good a place as any."  
  
They ate in silence. "Give me one reason I should stay here for another minute," Ken demanded suddenly. "I am beginning to believe this is a monumental waste of time. If that being was telling us the truth, we should just abandon this world."  
  
Yolei's head whipped around. "What?? We can't just... abandon the digital world! There are plants and animals here. I have friends here! I will not just let them die."   
  
Ken approached Yolei and sat next to her. "Listen to me." His voice was low but forceful. "I don't want to give this up either. I've been developing a battle plan which I am sure would have defeated you and your friends within the month. But I will not starve myself and tramp through a forest for God knows how many days for a game."  
  
Yolei could have screamed. "It isn't a game, you nitwit!" Ken straightened as if he'd been slapped. "It's just different from our world! You know, like how in sci-fi, they have all these different kinds of life? Well, it's the same here, except it's real! How do you think Hawkmon came through the portal with me?" She bonked her open hand against the side of his head. "Wake up! It's real! And besides, the spirit said the shadow-thing would come into our world, remember? So you can't run away forever, even if you wanted."  
  
"You remember this, girl. You will not strike me again... and I do not run away. I have not, and I will not." This time he sounded very angry.  
  
"You don't run away, huh? What do you call leaving your own world, huh? What do you call leaving your family to think you'd been kidnapped and probably murdered? You call that, what, a strategic retreat or something?!" Yolei had a temper to match the best of them. "You were just a scared little boy, and that's what you are now!"  
  
He made a move to hit her, but Yolei ducked the blow. "Nice try. Solve this the way you solve everything."   
  
Ken's face was suffused with crimson, and he opened his mouth to respond, but a screeching cut him short. Both jumped at the noise, then jumped again at a crash that sounded very near them. A digimon appeared out of the forest, pointing at Ken. "There he is! It's the Emperor--and he doesn't have his army with him. If we get him, we can make sure that he never hurts another one of us again!"  
  
Yolei's eyes widened, and she was sure that, behind his glasses, Ken's did as well. "If we don't get out here, I don't think you'll be around much longer for me to yell at." After she took a deep breath, Yolei grabbed the boy's hand and sprinted in the opposite direction of the voices. Branches tore at their hair and clothes and tried to slow them. In their hurry, neither heard the gurgle of a stream and only realized it was there when water soaked through their shoes. Yolei made a face, but growls behind them spurred them on. Now with their shoes wet, they slipped on rocks and dead leaves.  
  
Only too late did the pair notice a black expanse in front of them. "Oh, crap!" Yolei cursed as they tumbled headlong into a ravine. Ken pressed his fingers to his lips, and she quieted. They stayed motionless for several minutes until they were sure that the chase had ended. They stood warily, trying to assess their situation, squinting into the palely moonlit night. "Oh, I almost forgot!" Yolei produced a lantern from her satchel, hoping desperately that it hadn't broken in their fall. In its silver illumination, she could see where they had fallen. "Ew, it smells horrible here." Murky water pooled at the bottom of the ditch and bubbled slightly.   
  
"I suppose there is one positive aspect to our flight," Ken said coolly, just as if he had not fled for his life and ended up head over heels in a smelly hole. "I know that stream. It begins at Infinity Mountain and flows past my fortress. We should be able to follow it to our goal."  
  
A giggle escaped Yolei's lips. "We just barely escaped a... a digimon lynch mob, we're covered in stuff I hope is just mud, and... and you're the one finding the silver living in all this?" She thought she detected a small smile on Ken's face, but if so, it disappeared instantly. "Mimi will kill me when she sees what I did to this shirt she bought me." With a shrug, she dug her shoes into the side of the ravine and began attempting to climb. "Come on." The sounds of squelching mud behind her told Yolei that he was struggling to follow her. With a melodramatic sigh, she reached a hand down and pulled him up by his collar. He protested hotly, but they were over the edge in a few minutes.  
  
She carefully wiped the lantern and her glasses with a less muddy part of her shirt. "Now that we're wet, cold, and filthy, I guess we should go to sleep. Maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow."  
  
**A/N--I realized after writing this that their clothes always changed when they went through the portal. But, um, this is years later, so they can wear whatever they like wherever they are. Yeah, that's it. 


	5. Ken's Cuts and Conversation

Yolei was the first awake again. She inhaled sharply when she saw the young man sleeping near her. Last night, it had blended in with the mud and bits of leaves stuck to him, but now dried blood stood out in patches on his face, arms, and torso. He looked terrible. She scrounged around the thick vegetation for herbs she vaguely remembered as healing and wished she had a towel or any clean piece of cloth. Some of the leaves were absorbent, so she soaked them in the nearby stream and hurried back to tend Ken. He gasped when she began cleaning his wounds and jerked away from her. She raised an eyebrow and showed her the pinkish water that dripped down the front of him. He sighed and, without a word, let her continue her ministrations. Right now, he truly wished he had kept practicing soccer throughout his takeover of this world; he probably would've fared much better during their midnight flight.  
  
Yolei tried to be as gentle as possible, but she hadn't nursed anyone back to health for a long time. She winced and muttered an apology whenever he groaned. It didn't escape him that, enemy though he was, Yolei treated his pain as if it were her own. But he told himself that the only reason she was so worried about him was that she needed him in good condition to continue their impossible quest. He had accepted that the... spirit being was telling the truth and that this shadow was a real threat, but this smacked too much of a fantasy epic for his liking. Those never ended well for his side. And he really hated owing so much to this girl.  
  
All this passed through our unwitting hero's mind as our heroine tended his injuries. She could guess some of his thoughts, and she was trying to keep a smile off her face. Ken, needing a girl to show him which way was which, to find his food, and to heal him after a chase by angry digimon. Poor baby. She giggled.  
  
Ken's head whipped around. "What's so funny, girl?" His glasses had tumbled off his face, and she was confronted with his violet eyes blazing at her. Her laughter ceased, though her smile never completely left her face.  
  
"Nothing important." She stood. "Now get up. You should be okay for awhile, unless those digimon track us down."   
  
They followed the stream all day, tripping over the vegetation clustered near the water. As usual, Yolei led the way, and Ken refused to let himself be drawn into conversation. A few bruised apples still remained, and Yolei discovered some wild pears growing near the stream. Her mouth was beginning to feel sticky from all the sugar in the sweet fruit, and she wished she had a toothbrush.   
  
"Hey, you." Yolei wouldn't call Ken 'Emperor', and he wouldn't respond to his name. "Is it just me, or would a toothbrush be really great about now? Even without toothpaste." She didn't expect Ken to answer, but she would talk to herself if necessary to avoid a prolonged, awkward silence.  
  
"I was musing over that myself."  
  
In her shock, Yolei almost tripped. This was definitely a 'stop the presses' kind of moment. "Yeah, um, with all that fruit. And I think I ate some of that nasty ditch mud."   
  
"Think of it as extra protein."  
  
And now he was being funny? On purpose? Either Ken had hit his head on something or had been replaced with a clone. Really, Yolei would be content either way. She laughed in response to his quip. "My mother always says I don't get enough." Her smile faded as she thought of her family for the first time since arriving here. "My mother... I wonder if they're worried about me yet." She shot a look back at Ken. He had abandoned his family, leaving them to weep over the disappearance of their remaining son. He was too busy keeipng his balance to notice her glance, but she thought he had heard her. "They're probably calling everybody, asking if they've seen me." She hated the thought of worrying her parents like that. They annoyed her royally at times, but she knew how she would feel if one of them was spirited away in the middle of the night.   
  
After that, Yolei couldn't concentrate on keeping her feet in the tangle of brush near the stream. This time she called for the stop, though Ken certainly didn't object. She was quiet and morose, barely eating half a pear and staring distantly into the forest around them. Although Ken generally preferred silence, it unnerved him coming from this girl. Then again, maybe she was having second thoughts about this quest business.   
  
A few hours into their rest, Yolei shook herself. "It doesn't matter anyway," she announced suddenly. "There's no way for us to leave, even if we wanted to. I don't have my D3 anymore, and if you could contact your fortress, you would have by now."  
  
Ken groaned. "I was trying to forget that detail."   
  
They had curled up to sleep several feet from each other when less-than-stealthy footsteps alerted Yolei to the presence of someone else. She saw Ken stiffen and knew that he had heard the noises as well. "Not again," she whispered. She held her satchel against herself, ready to leap up and run if the someone else proved to be unfriendly.   
  
"A birdramon spotted them. They've been walking this way all day." Yolei rose to a crouch. "Are you ready, guys?"   
  
She didn't need any more convincing. She gestured for Ken to go first and dashed after him into the thick growth. The now-familiar sound of branches and leaves crunching under the feet of running digimon reached her, and she mentally urged Ken to speed up. She doubted that a providential ditch would appear under their feet again.   
  
The forest had been slowly thinning all day, and now she saw a long plain stretched out before them. And more importantly... "The tree! Hey, you can still climb trees, can't you?" Yolei yelled.  
  
An inviting oak with thick, sturdy--and low--limbs lay just to their right. Ken swerved and struggled up the branches. Yolei followed a bit more gracefully. A very little bit. Digimon danced angrily at the oak's base, shouting threats, but eventually gave up and reluctantly left the pair in peace.   
  
"Why is it that they always recognize you but never me?"  
  
Ken cracked a smile. "That would be infinitely more convenient. You could tell them you were attempting to reform me by... what? showing me the wonders of this world firsthand, or some such."  
  
A cold gust shook the limb they sat on. Yolei wrapped her arms around herself. "Shouldn't it be a lot warmer than this? Summer is barely over." She squinted. "And the moon. It looks... faded. It isn't as bright as it usually is." The wind died, but the cool air cut through her summer clothes.  
  
Ken nodded slowly. "The shadow the spirit spoke of. I thought it would come on more gradually."  
  
"He was right about starting now." Yolei shivered. "This can't continue much longer, not if the digimon are going to survive." Now she wished for a sweater. "Not to mention us." 


	6. A New Friend?

They slept very uncomfortably that night. The only way to sleep in a tree and hope for safety was to half-sit between a thick limb and the tree's trunk. For a change, Ken awoke first and stiffly stretched out sore muscles. Yolei very nearly tumbled out of the tree when she awoke with a jolt. She pulled herself back up to sit securely on a branch, frowning and muttering. "I nearly died this morning, I'm tired, I hurt, my clothes are encrusted with mud, and oh look, another pear."  
  
Ken jumped out of the tree and uncertainly tried to help Yolei down. She flashed a brief smile at him. "Thanks."  
  
They traveled more slowly that day, still following the stream. Yolei wondered idly what it was called. The landscape had changed, from a lush, verdant forest to a vast plain. When the wind blew, the long grass bent in graceful waves like the ocean. Yolei was thankful for her long-sleeved shirt, for filthy as it was, it protected her arms from the serrated edges of the prairie grass all around them.   
  
"So what do you think about this dying star stuff?"  
  
Ken looked up. "What about it?"   
  
Yolei shrugged. "I don't know... do you think it's really a star?"   
  
"I hope not. It's more likely a metaphor, though for what I can't imagine. A jewel maybe, or something like your crests."  
  
Your crests... Yolei recalled the shape she had briefly seen hover over Ken's head. She shook her head. "Yeah, maybe. What about the shadow?"  
  
For some reason, Ken sounded slightly annoyed. "It's not something I unleashed, if that's your question." At least he wasn't calling her girl.  
  
"Well, it wasn't." This boy wasn't the easiest traveling companion. Yolei calling him touchy would be a little like the pot calling the kettle black, but she did so in her mind. Had she been younger, she probably would have let a torrent loose upon him. "My question was what you thought about it? Is it just a digimon or is... I don't know, something else?"  
  
"How do you expect me to know this?" Ken was definitely in a bad mood, and at present, Yolei didn't think she was ready to soothe it.  
  
"You hang out here a lot more than I do," she replied shortly. "You're the one who lives here, remember?" She shivered as an icy breeze swept the long grass and her long hair.  
  
Ken glared at her for a while, then relented. "I have had cause to muse on the... shadow before this quest." Yolei sincerely couldn't imagine spending days on end here. What did he do when they weren't fighting, anyway? "It is certainly not an ordinary digimon. I do not even believe it is an extraordinary digimon." He glanced at her. "I always thought of it as some sort of... flaw in the program when the Digital World was written. A force, perhaps, if this world is as you say. Philosophies and religions all around the world and all through time have spoken of a balance. The problem is with the usual notions of evil is that its goal is annihilation of good, while the goal of good is mere... good. So if this world functions like ours, this shadow is the balance of the spirit we met and all his good companions--only now it is tipping the balance."  
  
Yolei stared. Since when was Ken a theologian? "Uh... yeah. Sounds good to me." Yolei was no ignoramus herself, but her forte was math and science and computers. This philosophy was a little much for her, especially on a nearly empty stomach. "Hey, I haven't seen any peering eyes or heard any unusual rustling lately. We may actually get some sleep tonight!"  
  
They walked on, mostly in silence. On the up side, it was less of an awkward silence than they had endured for the past couple of days.  
  
Day passed into evening, as it tends to do. As the light waned, shadows lenghtened, masking the little dips and rises that constantly tried to trip our intrepid heroes. They slowed and stopped by silent accord. "Pear?"  
  
Ken couldn't help smiling a little. "I would appreciate that."  
  
Just as Yolei had made herself a pillow of sorts with her satchel and Ken with his cape, a rhythmic swishing caught their collective ear. Someone was coming. They rolled their eyes at each other and sat up.   
  
"I do not wish to harm either of you," a low and melodious voice called softly. "My name is Hermemon. I live at the other end of this plain, near the desert. If you desire shelter, I hope you will accept my offer. I believe I may prove helpful to you on your journey." A tall, slender digimon with a startingly human appearance--except for what appeared to be wings extending from his ankles--stepped through the grass and bowed gravely at them. "I will give you a few moments to discuss it between yourselves." He bowed again and retreated.  
  
Yolei gaped. "Wow. Well, he must know about our quest, and he can't be worse than those lynch mobs who have been chasing us around."  
  
Ken nodded slowly. "I don't like it as much as you seem to, but I agree. If worse comes to worse, we've been surviving on our own well enough so far." 


	7. A Day to Relax

A/N: When I uploaded this, I know that there are some random lines in the middle of this. I'm not sure why. Anyway, just ignore them. And then read and review!!  
  
Yolei rustled through the long grass until she found Hermemon. "Hello? Um, we talked about it, and we would be very grateful for any help you could give us."  
  
The digimon smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. Come, we have a long walk ahead of us. I have bread and cheese with me if either you begin to hunger."  
  
Yolei called back to Ken, who soon joined them. Hermemon led the way in silence across the wide plain, dotted with low trees rising above the grass that waved in the wind. They walked for several hours, and both humans were lagging by the time a low building rose over them. Yolei could hardly believe that they had finally arrived at their destination and stared blankly at the building until Hermemon addressed her. "Yolei? Are you feeling well?"  
  
She blinked, jolted out of her reverie. "Oh... oh yeah I'm fine. Is this it?"  
  
Hermemom bowed. "This is my home. After you children have had some sleep, I will show you the route you must take if you are to find the star in time."  
  
Yolei exchanged a look with Ken, who hung behind the other two. This digimon called them 'children' and knew of their quest, just as the spirit had. Was there a digimon gossip column she didn't know about, or what?  
  
"Thank you. I don't know about Ken back there, but I'm about to fall over right here."   
  
Hermemon smiled and gestured for them to enter his home. It was a wooden building, lit with hundreds of small candles that lent a golden glow to the simple furnishings. Ken and Yolei were led to bedrooms beyond a kitchen and dining room. Yolei barely registered a bed before falling into it, exhausted.  
  
Several hours later, Yolei awoke the the sun streaming directly on her eyes. She shaded them with one hand and looked around. The candles were extinguished, and none looked any lower than she remembered. Well, she had been tired then and probably wasn't recalling things correctly. She stretched and lay a few more moments on a soft mattress, a thick cover pulled up around her shoulders. There was a whisper of an elusive something in the air, like a scent she couldn't quite identify. All she knew was that she felt better than she had in days.  
  
For several minutes, she dozed, then reluctantly tossed the cover and sheets aside. She stood, padded across the floor, and peered out her door. Nothing but wooden walls greeted her eyes, but she heard a low rumble of conversation some ways down the hall.  
  
Ken and Hermemom sat in the bright kitchen, talking over bread, cheese, and stew. As she approached the pair, the aromas of the meal hit her. She picked up her speed.  
  
"Yolei! It is good to see you up and about. Would you like some food? I'm afraid I cannot treat you as I should."   
  
Yolei smiled. "It looks wonderful, Hermemon." She pulled up a chair at the small, round table. "So what were you guys talking about?"  
  
Ken had subsided into silence as soon as Yolei had appeared in the doorway, so it was up to Hermemon to converse with his guest. They talked about the Digital World and its inhabitants, this shadow and their quest. After Yolei had finally finished her breakfast, Hermemon disappeared for a few moments, only to return with a bundle of cloth. When he carefully unfolded it, the bundle revealed itself to be two long cloaks, one a dusty lavender and the other a deep navy.   
  
"You will need these after you leave my home. The next stage of your quest will lead you through a desert, and without these, the sun will burn you during the day, and icy breezes will freeze you at night. I'm afraid that they will offer little protection from the sand, however. If you would like, I can give you some clothes to wear while yours are washed and repaired." Yolei nodded eagerly; hers were caked with mud and torn. Hermemon produced two shirts and two pairs of breeches, both of ivory cotton. Yolei took hers and changed in her bedroom, just as Ken did.  
  
She was shocked to see Ken out of his Emperor get-up. He looked almost as he had as a twelve-year old boy in Odaiba, innocent and somehow sorrowful. Even his glasses were gone, and his hair rested quietly on his head. She could see his surprise at her appearance, and a distant part of her mind chuckled at the sight of the two staring at each other as if they'd never seen a teenaged boy or girl before.  
  
"Hey Ken. H-how did you sleep last night? I slept great." His dark eyes gazed intently at her, and she quieted under that glance.  
  
"It was very pleasant. I wonder if you noticed the candles."  
  
Yolei smiled, the strange moment gone in an instant. "I did! When I woke up, they were all out, and it didn't seem like they had burned down at all."  
  
Ken nodded. "That's what struck me, as well. I asked our host about that, and he never answered completely."  
  
"Still suspicious of Hermemon?"  
  
Ken shook his head slowly. "No, not anymore. Just... curious. You trusted him immediately, and it seems your trust was justified."  
  
Yolei thought she felt a blush creep up into her cheeks. "Oh well, I just get these feelings about people--whether they're good or bad." She suddenly averted her eyes, recalling that she was speaking with one of the 'bad'.  
  
"I see. I'm afraid that my own intuition has not been right for quite some time." He smiled at her. "Perhaps you will have to help me in these matters."  
  
Now Yolei definitely felt her face heating. "Oh, okay, yeah. So... it's really lucky that Hermemon found us, huh?" She thought idly that if she were a cartoon character, she would've been completely crimson by this point.  
  
Hesitantly, Ken stepped closer to her. His head was bowed as he began speaking. "Yolei... I know that we started on this quest only a few days ago, but I've felt... all along, I've been thinking about things. Like how we're going to go back to the way we were--or if we can." He raised his eyes to hers, and she saw that they were shining, as if tears shimmered there. "If we do survive this ordeal, I want you to know that... that I'm going to try to change things between us."   
  
Yolei was stunned nearly speechless. "Ken, I... why? I mean, like you said, we've only been on this thing for a couple of days. Why the sudden change of heart?" She hoped that he knew that she wasn't trying to discourage him, but if he could change his mind so quickly one way, what would stop him from changing it back in another week?  
  
"When we battled, even when I was losing, I knew that this world would be here tomorrow. I knew that I could return whenever I wanted, and before I realized it, the Digital World had become like a home to me. Ever since I left... the other world permanently, it has been my home. It means more to me than I could have admitted to myself before this." Ken's words rung of long hours of thought and reflection, some of it painful. "And if that wasn't enough, I've spent these days trying to save the Digital World with you. I've been so used to thinking of myself as an emperor... as a ruler and general... that I'd forgotten what I really am."  
  
Yolei grinned. "A teenager with no social life whatsoever? A guy who needs a lot more exercise if he can't even keep up with me?" Her smile softened. "Human?"  
  
Despite his solemnity, Ken couldn't suppress a chuckle. "One of those." His lips curved in a matching grin, and his eyes gleamed. "I'm not saying I give up, Inoue. Just that... things will be different when this is over."  
  
The pair spent the day with Hermemon, asking his advice on their upcoming trek across the desert and up the mountain. If they followed the nearby stream as it curved north, the enigmatic digimon informed them, they would only have a day of walking across the arid land before Infinity Mountain. The stream would shrivel to weak trickle of tepid water through the sand, but it should guide them to their destination.  
  
Yolei would have liked to stay longer in the calming house, but she had felt the nights becoming colder and colder, and even daylight no longer seemed quite as bright. She told herself it was just imagination, but she couldn't quite convince herself.  
  
Hermemom gently deflected conversation away from himself whenever Ken or Yolei inquired about him. After several attempts, neither attempted to delve further into the digimon's personal business. They were happy enough to have a found a safe haven, however temporary--and there was real food for the first time since they had embarked on this quest. Hermemon gave them bread, cheese, dried meat, and clean water in small, convenient packages to take with them for the second half of their journey. Yolei checked her lantern, and Ken silently polished his dagger, brooding on something far-away.  
  
They ate a simple dinner before Ken and Yolei went to sleep, and Hermemon gave them some parting advice with their meal. "I hope that you consider leaving early in the morning, as the sun will become too intense for you to brave during a few hours at midday. Even if the heat is overwhelming, I suggest that you wear your cloaks; you are both far too fair-skinned to dare the sun unprotected for any amount of time." He paused. "And I'm sure you both will be relieved when I tell you that no more digimon should bother you as you travel until you find your way inside the mountain. Inside the rock, there are wild creatures who have never seen the sun and will attack any who stray into their domain. I believe you will have need of your dagger before your journey's end."  
  
He looked out a window and turned back to his guests. "The sun has set, and I advise you go to sleep now, so you may awaken early. I will be here when you rise, and we will break our fast together." 


	8. Return of the Quest

Author's Note: I am so sorry about a lack of updates!! I just forget to visit ff.net and update because I am a horrible person.. and I just got a job, which takes four hours out of my day. I must re-adjust my schedule. Sylvyr Elf, you're right about Hermemon being like Mercury. He's actually named after the Greek god Hermes, who is the equivalent of Mercury (for the Roman folk).  
  
The three ate breakfast quickly and in a companiable silence. Hermemon directed them back toward the stream they had followed through the forest and left as quietly as he had appeared on the plain. Yolei shrugged at Ken and started walking toward the peak she could now vaguely make out amid wispy clouds. The two hadn't spoken much since yesterday morning, and once they entered the desert, they didn't have a chance to talk. A windstorm sprung almost as soon as they stepped foot into the sand.   
  
They almost lost each other several times until Yolei grabbed Ken's hand in exasperation and shaded her eyes with the other. Their words were lost if they stood more than a foot apart. Yolei could hardly tell any time had passed at all until she realized that she was squinting into the distance and that sweat was stinging her eyes. She risked a glimpse up toward the sun and saw that noon was approaching. Some thin shrubs clung to the streambed, and Yolei pulled Ken down under one of them to rest until the sun's heat had mellowed.  
  
Yolei sat hunched over, the hood of her cloak pulled as far down as possible. She clutched the edges of her cloak and covered as much of herself as possible with the soft lilac fabric while she groaned. Ken huddled next to her, hidden among the dark blue folds of his own cloak. Despite the circumstances, she cracked something of a smile at the sight of the fearsome Digimon Emperor cowering under a scraggly bush. Then again, she was cowering just as much as he was, so maybe it wasn't that funny.  
  
Between blasts of stinging sand, Yolei discovered that she and Ken could carry on some sort of conversation.   
  
"Ken, are you doing okay?? I think the wind is..."  
  
"What was that? No, I doubt this storm will...."  
  
"Yeah, maybe you're right. So how much longer do you think..."  
  
"I can't hear you!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"What??"  
  
And so on. Shakespearian dialogue it was not.  
  
Yolei wordlessly handed Ken some of the neatly wrapped packages, and they ate Hermemon's food and generous amounts of sand for lunch.  
  
A few hours later, Yolei reluctantly rose and motioned for Ken to follow her. The wind had not let up, but the sun blazed somewhat less powerfully now. She could see the shape of Infinity Mountain through the swirling desert sand, very slowly growing larger as they trudged through the gales. Yolei felt her legs shaking beneath her and finally tripped over a hidden stone. Ken helped her to her feet with a concerned look on her face and wrapped an arm around her waist when they started to walk again.  
  
As afternoon dimmed into evening, the wind died and the two realized that they were very nearly out the desert. The mountain rose up starkly from the flat land around it, no foothills or gradual incline to ease travellers into the climb. A small cave jutted out of the mountain's base where Yolei and Ken gratefully stumbled after a hard day's travail. 


	9. A New Light in the Desert

A/N: Hey hey, readers. This gets a little steamy! But I checked, and I'm sure it's still PG-13. And come it, it's pretty short--I leave it up to you to decide what all happens. I hope you enjoy, read, and review!  
  
And humble apologies for keeping you waiting for so long for the completion of my story. But it will be complete within the next hour or so, I promise.

oOoOoOo

Yolei couldn't sleep. Besides the cold that kept her shivering, sand itched every inch of her skin. Standing up, she stepped quietly to a corner of the cave, where she wouldn't disturb Ken. She stripped off the cloak Hermemon had given her and let it fall to the ground, followed by her shirt, so that a thin tank top was all that covered her torso. Her teeth chattered as she wiped tiny grains of sand from her arms and chest. Despite the cold, she began to feel much better. She dropped her head and ruffled her long hair. Her back still itched, but she couldn't quite reach around herself. She flailed about and started to despair of ever dislodging those tiny grains when she felt a warm hand on her skin, slowly running down her spine.  
  
Her eyes popped, and she inhaled sharply. Oh Lord, she was shirtless, and Ken was awake, and he was running his hand across her bare skin. She tried telling herself that she was an adult, that he was simply brushing the sand off her skin--just being helpful--and people saw her in less than this when she went to beach. But although she refused to think about it, she was more accurately a teenager with confused and raging hormones. Just like he was.  
  
His hands stopped on her waist, resting in the curve of her body. She could hear him breathing and would have sworn that he could hear her heartbeat. Swallowing hard, she turned around and set one of her hands atop one of his. His violet eyes gazed intently at her, and she suddenly felt like she was wearing a lot less. Yolei smiled shakily and brushed some sand off of his face. She hoped that her fierce blush was invisible in the cool darkness of the cave.   
  
"You're so beautiful," he whispered. "I'm-I'm sorry if I've acted inappropriately." He lowered his head, and dark hair fell across his eyes.   
  
Impulsively, Yolei brushed the strands away. "No, don't. I mean... I'm glad you did." She drew a deep breath in an attempt to calm her racing heart. "You know, I've never seen anyone with eyes like yours. They're lovely and dark and mysterious. Like-like you," she finished quietly.  
  
"Would you... would it be too forward of me to-"  
  
Yolei pressed her lips to his, effectively cutting of his questions and answering it. His arms tightened around her. She had kissed a couple of boys before, but that was nothing like this. She had been a little repulsed at their efforts to stick their tongue in her mouth, but now, she was the one who deepened the kiss. His body tensed in surprise, then relaxed again. Having spent most of his teenage years engaged in world domination, Ken had never kissed a girl before, except for that time he was four, and that didn't really count.   
  
In a cave, between a desert and a dying star, a boy shadowed by death and darkness collided with a girl called chosen, brimming with love and light. The next day they would begin an ascent up a peak wreathed in clouds and then descend into lightless rock. But for now they were just a boy and a girl, seventeen years old and discovering something in each other they had never before seen. 


	10. So Comes the Inevitable

Breakfast was dried foodstuffs, water, and a return to awkward silence. It wasn't, Yolei reasoned with herself, that she was ashamed or embarrassed about last night. It was just that she didn't know what to say after what had happened. She was sure he did feel ashamed or embarrassed about their spontaneous… display of affection the night before as he steadfastly refused to meet her eyes or speak to her in anything more than muttered monosyllables.  
  
The morning was misty—strange, at the edge of a desert—and Yolei noticed with a touch of panic that she could see neither the stream that led to Infinity Mountain nor the peak itself. "Ken?" He glanced up at her and then hastily back to the ground. Man, if relationships were going to be like this for the rest of her life, Yolei thought she might seriously consider joining a convent.   
  
She massaged her head in annoyance. "Ken, I have no idea which way we're supposed to go. The fog messes everything up."  
  
He looked at her warily and then padded to the mouth of their little cave. Yolei rolled her eyes. What, did he think she was lying so she could trap him here for another amorous hour or two?  
  
"Yeah, look, it really is foggy. So what do you think we should do?" Her voice was becoming sharper than she realized.   
  
Ken glanced back at her. "I remember that we walked straight into this cave after we left the stream, so I'm facing east. Infinity Mountain should be that way," he said as he pointed in a vaguely northerly direction.   
  
Ha! He obviously didn't want to be stuck here with her. He would even risk getting lost to avoid it. Well, that was just fine with Yolei Inoue. Boys. "Then that way it is." She slung her cloak around her shoulders and marched out the cave. "You coming?"  
  
Yolei couldn't say that they had reverted back to their state when they'd first started this quest because he wasn't lording it up anymore. He just refused to talk to her. She was even more irritated with him now, though, because she knew that he could be halfway pleasant if he so deigned.   
  
Her vexation boiled silently until they paused for a break about mid-morning. Surprisingly, Ken had been correct about the direction of their destination, so they hadn't had to turn around halfway through the day. They were eating their simple fare in dead silence until Yolei couldn't take it any longer.   
  
At first, her words were jumbled bits of the thoughts that had circled round and round in her head all morning—nearly incomprehensible to a very bewildered Ken. "Ken, hello, teenagers! It happens! Gotta find the star and communication would probably help. It's not like we… I mean, come on! Get over it—if you'd been in high school for the past few years, you would know that this is pretty normal stuff. You're just mad because someone else—me!—figured out that you're just a normal… how old are? Seventeen year-old boy who's wandering around just as confused and conflicted as the rest of us. You know, gasp! that really takes away from the superiority complex you've been nursing like a grudge for the past several years. Why can't you just accept that you're as flawed and afraid as the rest of us??"   
  
The teenage boy's eyes were wide and almost perfectly round in shock. He was speechless for a few seconds, and then he began haltingly to speak. "I… Yolei, that is not what I have…" He paused. "You were under the impression that I regretted our encounter?" He shook his head, dark hair brushing his pale forehead. "No, I was, confused and conflicted, as you said." His voice took on a defensive edge. "My perspective on everything has been tested, and you cannot expect me to be suddenly easy and friendly with you. I said things will change, and I still mean it, but you will have to give me time."  
  
Yolei was still fuming from the sudden explosion of her rage, but she managed to keep her tone civil. "That—that sounds fair." And it really did sound reasonable; the girl was simply in no mood to be reasonable about this. "Well, we should get going." She looked up uneasily about the mountain that now loomed directly over them. 


	11. Scaling Infinity

Yolei had to admit that it was difficult to maintain one's antipathy for another person when that person was the only reason she had made it so far up Infinity Mountain. She'd had no idea how slippery the slopes were or how steep, and she had expected to find some sort of path. They had to climb as quickly as possible without breaking their necks, but they had to circle around the mountain to search for the cave the angel/spirit had mentioned. It should sparkle in the sun, but heavy clouds left the world in a perpetual twilight that made Yolei shiver.   
  
Ken had finally seemed to remember his athletic training and was striding up the mountainside without sparing a moment for the rocks that slid capriciously underfoot. Yolei was faring much worse; she felt as if she were constantly on the verge of tumbling back down to the foot of the mountain. She hated being dependent on others and had tried to insist that she could make her way up the mountain by herself very well.   
  
After barely an hour, she had relented. She sat down carefully until Ken turned around and noticed her. He asked if she were all right, and difficult as it was, she admitted in a low voice that she was not. Ken could sense her reluctance at asking for help, so he tried to lighten the mood with a little smile and a reminder that she had already saved his life two times. She grinned back at this and took his arm warmly.  
  
Despite his kindness, Yolei felt that she was burdening him and slowing down their journey—and she knew that they could not afford to slacken their pace. So she struggled valiantly, hiding her winces when she twisted her foot and then continued to place her weight on it. Yolei was sure that if he saw that she was injured even slightly, he would insist on stopping.  
  
They stopped before sunset, for the shadows cast by rocks of various sizes on the mountain deceived their eyes and tripped their feet too often. They walked slowly until they found an overhang and halted under its scant shelter. The wind howled around the mountain and whistled between the rocks as it froze the two humans camped out.   
  
Any awkwardness between the two teenagers was ignored out of necessity; they could only hear each other if that sat very close. Eventually, they decided by mutual, unspoken assent to huddle together as they ate and then slept, trying to preserve the body heat they generated. They lay very stiffly, not talking and waiting miserably to drift into sleep.  
  
Yolei awoke feeling considerably warmer than she had when she'd curled up on the cold ground. She was curled up against Ken's back, following the contours of his sleeping form with her own. She tried to slip away, but when she tried, his heavy, regular breathing stopped, and he moaned softly in his sleep. It was dark still—too dark, somehow, as if the light of the stars and moon wasn't quite strong enough to penetrate the atmosphere—so Yolei thought she might as well try to fall back asleep.   
  
Light reflecting off a smooth piece of stone awoke Yolei with a start. Ken was still asleep, and Yolei found herself smiling goofily at his pale face, smoothed to quiet peace in repose. No wonder she'd had such a crush on the twelve-year old Ichijouji boy when she was younger. She tickled his cheek with a lock of her lavender hair until he awoke, swatting an invisible fly.   
  
"Good morning, sunshine," she chirped happily, despite the frigid gusts that tossed their cloaks to and fro. "We have bread, cheese, and yes, dried fruit! There's a little bit of dried meat left if you're feeling particularly decadent."  
  
Ken looked weary at her cheerfulness but cracked a little smile. "A regular feast," he replied, voice gravelly from fatigue. Yolei had gathered that Ken was not a morning person—not that she was much of one herself, but it was always fun when someone was even more of a night owl than she.  
  
They ate quickly, but Yolei lingered over her food for several minutes, dreading the ascent up Infinity Mountain. Straightening her cloak and making a face at the sticky taste in her mouth, Yolei looked up the mountain's steep sides and then sighed. "Ready to climb a mountain?" 


	12. He Never Saw Lord of the Rings

Yolei was beginning to remember why she hated winter and physical exertion. You got cold, so you wrapped yourself tightly in whatever you had to wear—and then you started to sweat, so you fanned your collar (or cloak, in this case)… and then you froze again. It was a vicious cycle, and Yolei hated every part of it.  
  
She found the ascent somewhat easier today, and she kept up easily with Ken—who seemed to be having a harder time of things. Maybe he had strained himself yesterday. They didn't talk much, both breathing hard from the exercise and the altitude. Yolei's legs burned up and down their length, and she was contemplating suggesting a break when a bright glitter caught her eye.  
  
She jogged as quickly as she could on top of sliding rocks and aching legs toward the sparkle. "Ken! I think I found it!" Without wasting breath to explain what exactly she had found, she hurried to confirm her discovery. And there it was, brilliant crystal shining in early afternoon light around a dark opening in the mountain's side. She squinted against the glare and found that she couldn't see a foot into the cave.   
  
Ken caught up quickly to his companion. He sat on his heels in order to peer into the darkness, to no avail. It was roughly five feet in diameter, almost a perfect circle. Yolei could see a faint grey after she shaded her eyes, which turned out to be a path that led down into the center of the peak. "Why couldn't there be a convenient door at the bottom of this stupid mountain??" she exclaimed. "Where is that lamp?" She searched her clothes and the satchel she still carried and pulled the lantern from it triumphantly. "Ah-ha!"  
  
She held it up in the cold, clear air, but nothing happened. "Hey, we could have a problem in here."  
  
Ken scrutinized the upheld lantern with a frown. "I do not relish the idea of traversing a cave in the dark while nameless creatures await our arrival."   
  
Yolei shook her head. "Neither do I, but what else are we going to do? Come on, eventually the angel guy said there'd be light from the star."  
  
And she was right. What else could they do? Ken shrugged in resignation. "Lead on."  
  
Yolei had barely taken two steps into the opening when a silver light sprung up around her. "Oh hey, it turned on!"  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
After inspecting the lantern for a few moments, Yolei gave up. "I don't know. I guess it's activated when it gets dark, like the streetlamps."  
  
The top of the tunnel—for so it was—hung a few inches about Yolei's head and brushed the top of Ken's. When Yolei was peering ahead into the darkness beyond the lantern's reach, she was unable to watch the ground and tripped over loose rocks that littered the tunnel's floor. When she switched her gaze to her feet, she imagined that she heard those mysterious creatures and couldn't concentrate. Ken was close at hand, though he never offered (or insisted) to hold the lantern, and he was readily available for Yolei to clutch if she felt she was about to fall on her face.  
  
This time they were descending, and doing so gradually, so Yolei thought they might be able to strike up a conversation.  
  
"So, as far as quests go, this one isn't too bad, huh?"  
  
Ken glanced at her sideways. "Are you basing this off experience or…?"  
  
She chuckled. "Well, I guess I've gone on a few in my day, but I mean from what I've read. People always… I don't know… die and become mortally wounded and say they can't go on. You know, the whole Lord of the Rings epic journey fraught with peril?"  
  
"I never saw it."  
  
Yolei gaped. "Let me get this straight—teenage male computer nerd and you didn't see Lord of the Rings?"  
  
"Remember, been living in Digital World for last several years?"  
  
"Yeah, with computers."  
  
Ken shrugged. "True. When I get back to my fortress, I'll see if I can download it."  
  
For some reason, Yolei found this uproarious. "You're already living in this place and trying to take it over, why not cheat, um, Peter Jackson out of a matinee ticket?" She giggled, and it was only made worse when Ken looked at her with an expression of purest confusion. "Never mind. When you return to your base of operations, I highly recommend the trilogy."  
  
In her amusement, she forgot to think carefully about her feet and promptly tripped. Her arms windmilled, and just before she crashed to her knees, she grabbed Ken's shirt. He toppled right along with her, and in a matter of seconds, they were a confused heap in a rock-strewn tunnel.  
  
The sight of the dreaded Emperor with holes in the knees of his pants and covered in dust set Yolei giggling again between exclamations of pain. "No offense, but this would be great morale booster for my side." She formed a picture frame out of her fingers and peeked through it. "I bet Davis would think of a good caption for it." At Ken's bewildered expression, she relented. "Sorry." She was still giggling under her breath. "Laughing to keep from going crazy, I think. Better than, um, going crazy."  
  
Ken shook his head. "I don't quite believe that you are not already."  
  
Another joke. Truly, this was an era of miracles. "You may be on to something." She stood and brushed herself off as best she could. In the lantern's pale light, dirt stood out prominently, and she sighed. Mimi would crucify her. "Well, let's continue on or merry way. Next stop—creatures of the dark who will try to kill us. We have… a dagger." She paused. "You do still have it, don't you?"  
  
Ken nodded, producing the weapon for a moment before slipping it back into his clothes.   
  
Yolei pursued her lips. "It doesn't look like much. Maybe it glows blue or something." She laughed briefly. "Another Lord of the Rings thing."  
  
They made their way through the shadowed passage carefully but more quickly than either had anticipated. Soon enough, Yolei felt her stomach announcing dinner time and proclaimed a halt. There was no way to tell how much time had passed, and it was as good a way as any to determine mealtime. Walking in eternal night had made both sleepy, and they fell asleep soon after eating. 


	13. That Which has Never Seen Day

"So, ready for unspeakable creatures of the night?"   
  
"No."  
  
"Great! Onward, ho!" Yolei whistled merrily for the first half hour or so of their trek until her lips were sore. Then she switched for humming, and Ken was amazingly patient through it all.  
  
"Yolei, lower your voice," he said suddenly, after over an hour of her off-tune music-making.  
  
"It's too quiet in here. It's creepy."  
  
Ken rolled his eyes. "I don't think it is completely silent anymore. You were the one who heard the… woodland creatures a few days ago. What do you hear now?"  
  
Yolei quieted for a minute. "Something that's not us. Somethings, I think. Seems like we've found our unspeakable creatures. And if they're not relying on sight, they've definitely heard us by now."  
  
Silently, Ken drew the strange dagger and held it in front of him. Yolei blocked most of the lantern's light with her hand, hoping to confuse their position a little. They walked shoulder-to-shoulder without saying a word, waiting tensely for something to spring out at them.   
  
Footsteps sounded in the distance and soon seemed to scurry all around them, but still they saw nothing in the lamp's faint glimmer. They walked slowly, desperate not to stumble at a bad moment. The suspense was growing so great that Yolei felt a terrible urge to break out running and had to fight to restrain her flight instincts. Fear would do no good here, in the heart of Infinity.  
  
Yolei heard the creature approaching moments before Ken and pulled him close just as it came crashing through their wan light. The thing was unclear, but what Yolei saw reminded her of the starved dogs she saw occasionally on city streets at night, sullen and aggressive if she were alone, fearful and slinking if she were not. This had blind white eyes and massive ears, membranes stretched thin like a bat's wing. Its teeth reflected the lantern, and very un-canine hooves clattered on the rocks. It slid a little, then turned and growled low at the pair of humans.  
  
It took every bit of Yolei's strength to inch herself along the tunnel wall toward their ultimate destination, her eyes locked on the dog-thing. It stayed within the weak glow around the two, disquieting eyes shining. Silence reigned for a few minutes, and then something screech and dove into Yolei's hair. She shrieked, and this seemed to be the signal for everything to rush at the teenagers.  
  
Yolei tried to dodge what she could see, and she heard Ken grunting as he jabbed at the things with his blade. What he did hit fell back and stayed there, but always more came. The very worst were kept at bay, and for a while, it seemed that the clash would continue in an agonizing stalemate: the teenagers with their advantage of a deadly weapon and the creatures with their endless numbers.   
  
Shallow bites and scratches, as well as the unreality of the whole situation, began to wear down our heroes. Ken's reactions slowed just a little, and Yolei's aching feet dragged a little more as she dodged right and left. It didn't help that she was clutching the lantern to her chest, so they were fighting in unaccustomed darkness.  
  
"It's not fair," Yolei shouted in frustration. "They have an army here, and we're on their territory!" She bumped into a wall where the tunnel turned sharply and cursed. "And it doesn't help that we're inside a freakin' mountain!"  
  
As she rubbed her temple with a free hand and leapt over a fallen… something, a solution hit her. A sadly obvious one, considering where they were. She wasn't worried about these creatures understanding her, so she called her idea to Ken over the unearthly cries that surrounded them. "Hey Ken! If these guys know the terrain, at least we can fight them in the light! Get ready to blink like crazy. I guarantee they'll need more than a few seconds to adjust to this," and with that, she thrust the silvery lantern into the air.  
  
Light filled the cracks and crevasses in the bedrock of the tunnel and blinded their opponents. Some still charged the two, but Ken was able to dispatch them much more efficiently after his eyes became accustomed to the brilliance. Somehow, the light shed from the lamp was brighter than ever, rivaling the brightest noon Yolei had ever seen.  
  
They were able to run across the tunnel ground now, as the rocks were a bit more solid from the passage of hundreds of creatures since the Digiworld had been created. The creatures attempted to follow—and those who succeeded were extremely fleet of foot, but the humans had the upper hand now. Yolei found she couldn't run for long, but it was enough to lose their pursuers.   
  
They stumbled along, trying to catch their breath but afraid to stop completely. After several minutes, their breaths steadied. Ken tentatively wiped the blade on his cloak, loathe to stain the beautiful cloth but unwilling to look at that strange, dried blood on the dagger any longer. Yolei held the lantern aloft, hoping that anything following them would stay out of its silver circle.  
  
After an interminable period of time, Yolei thought she caught another noise, this one very unexpected. "It sounds like… a waterfall." She looked at Ken with a puzzled expression on her face. "How would water get down here?"  
  
Ken thought a moment. "The angel-spirit mentioned a black river we would come across after those." He gestured behind them. "After we cross it, we should see a light in the distance, emanating from our star."  
  
"Oh yeah." Yolei thought about all the mentions of dark rivers she'd ever heard in literature and shivered. They never boded well for travelers.  
  
The sound grew louder as they approached, and to Yolei's relief, it didn't sound particularly sinister. It even looked calm when they could see it, bubbling over little rocks like any stream sparkling in the sunshine. There was no bridge, though, and Yolei did not like that.   
  
Ken knelt down besides it, apparently to wash his wounds or take a drink. Yolei's eyes widened when she noticed this and pulled him sharply away from the edge. "If fantasy and mythology have taught me anything, Ken, it's that you never drink from black, underground rivers. Never. No exceptions. The Lethe, the Styx, the Mirkwood River… I could go on. If they don't outright kill you, they always leave you mad or forgetting everything you know." At Ken's expression of skeptical disbelief, she threw up the hand not holding the lantern defensively. "Hey, this is a quest! I think many of the usual rules of quests apply. Except the ones about mortal, lifelong wounds I hope."  
  
Ken rose, shaking his head. "If you insist… How do you plan on crossing this river of horror? I mean, if you don't want to drag back the corpses of those things back there and use them as a bridge."  
  
Yolei rolled her eyes at his mockery. Well, he couldn't very well change from Emperor to Nice Guy in a week. "Well… I'm not sure. I just know that we definitely can't drink it, and we should touch it as little as possible. Maybe if we just run really fast."  
  
"Is that what they do in your stories?"  
  
The urge to hit him was rising. "Somehow," she tossed back, "Providence always finds them a way." She crept up to the shore and stretched the lantern across the water. "Maybe we can find some stepping stones." She studied the river in their area thoroughly, then sighed. There was a large rock in the wide river's center, but getting there and to the other side would be a challenge. They could possibly get a running start and leap across the inky water, but if they missed, they would fall headlong into the river. They also could just 'run really fast', as Yolei suggested uncertainly.   
  
She explained the choices to Ken, who mulled it over for only a few seconds before coming to a decision. "I honestly care little for your fantasy stories, but we stand a much lower risk of injury… and potential 'evil river' damage… if we simply run across. That is, assuming that it's as deep as it looks."  
  
Yolei winced. He had a point there. "Um, do you know how to swim, Ken?"  
  
He grimaced and looked the tiniest bit scared. "Theoretically, yes. In practice… it's been a while."  
  
"Me too."  
  
"But it's much safer than risking concussive head injury."  
  
Yolei nodded resolutely. "True. Let's go on the count of three. One… two… three!"  
  
They took a deep breath at the same moment, and then dashed into the black water. They gasped almost simultaneously as the icy liquid hit them. They sloshed through the river, shivering and keeping their balance against a surprisingly strong current.   
  
Instead of hurrying and probably losing her footing for good, Yolei forced herself to slow to a reasonable pace. It became increasingly difficult when she found that the water left a slightly oily feel on her skin. This was definitely an evil river, just as she had predicted.  
  
At its highest point, the water rose to just above her waist, and by then she was shivering out of disgust as well as cold and fear. She splashed out the river gratefully minutes later, happy to be out of that horrible water. If possible, she thought she was even colder now.   
  
When she glanced at Ken, she noticed that he was paler than usual. The light from her lantern was dimming, and neither could mean any good had come of that river. Then she realized that another light was shining weakly in the distance. 


	14. The Darkness at the Destination

The lantern had darkened until it was useless, but Yolei couldn't bring herself to abandon it on this empty path. She hated to think of it, but what if they had to find their way out of here again? When she remembered the foul river, she thought she could feel that oily sensation all over her, and she rubbed her arms briskly.  
  
The distant light warmed them little by little, and Yolei felt some of the pollution of the river and the night creatures evaporate from her skin. When she looked down at her feet, she noticed that the stones were roughly circular and of a similar size. It took her awhile to realize that they were ancient cobblestones, lining the tunnel ground.  
  
She wanted to skip until it hit her that the light wasn't growing stronger as they walked. This either meant that the star was very far away or that it was dying very quickly. She didn't much like either scenario.  
  
The ground was more certain here than it had been since they had set foot upon Infinity Mountain, so they quickened their pace. Ken mused aloud that the light had a slightly reddish cast, the same color many stellar stars took before they collapsed. Yolei didn't like the sound of that much, despite Ken's assurances that these collapses lasted for millennia.   
  
The tunnel turned here and there, but the monotony bore down on Yolei until she could think of nothing else but her footsteps, one after the other. She couldn't think of any conversation or any mental games to pass the time, and minutes stretched out into hours that followed one another like an ocean's eternal waves. She was sure would go barking mad if this lasted much longer, but she always managed the next footstep. She found herself reluctant to stop, undesirous of prolonging this slow torture (for so she had come to think of the mind-numbing repetition of hours) anymore than necessary.  
  
Ken brooded beside her, equally unwilling or unable to break the silence. She began to speculate about what he was thinking, and dark thoughts rose in her own mind. In this grey light, he was probably forgetting everything he had said up there in the sunlight and starlight above ground. Forgetting everything he had said about change and forgetting their moment in the desert cave. He was plotting his latest scheme for taking over the Digital World, now that he had experienced Yolei's weaknesses firsthand. In fact, he probably wouldn't even wait until they left this place. What if… what if he tried to take the star for himself? What if he refused to return it to the angel and threatened to destroy it? What if he did destroy it and allied himself with the shadow?  
  
She glared at him out of the corner of her eye. Yolei Inoue would not let that happen. She had saved his arrogant Emperor butt, and now he was going to betray her trust and conquer this world once and for all. She steeled herself to keep her pace, ready to break into a sprint at the first sign of the star. No way would the Emperor get his hands on this last precious object.  
  
Of course, she reasoned, Ken was thinking that she was thinking that he was going to try to grab the star. She turned and smiled at him, hoping that he couldn't tell that she was gritting her teeth. He looked a little surprised—nice acting—and smiled back unsteadily. Hardly convincing.  
  
Slowly, the light grew a bit more certain, and then it came upon them suddenly. Yolei willed herself not to give her intentions away by looking at Ken before she shot toward the faintly red light like a bullet. Ken stared after her for a few seconds following her at a jog.  
  
She reached for it and lifted an incredibly bright ball of light into her arms. The star's light died quickly as it left its source, but up close, it was still blinding. She cried out in pain as it burned through her clothing but refused to loosen her grasp. "You're not getting it," she screamed above her pain. "I'm going to return this to the angel, and you're not going to stop me!"  
  
Ken's dark eyes widened, then narrowed at the girl's words. Not of anger, though, but deep hurt. He approached her cautiously, noting her erratic glances around the small chamber and twitchy movements. "Yolei… I don't want to take it from you." He saw red blisters on her exposed hands and forearms and inhaled sharply. "I would like to help you carry the star, but I do not wish to claim it as mine. Did you… did you think that I lied to you up there, all those times?"   
  
He lowered his head. "I know I deserve your mistrust." He didn't want to meet her slightly crazed eyes and see the hatred that burned there and the agony that bespoke itself in the tightness around her mouth. "I have thought about everything continually for these days that we've journeyed together… but maybe you're right." He sighed, and sorrow welled up from the depths of his soul. "Maybe I will never change. Maybe I am destined to live my life as an Emperor, striving for power and eager to see the pain I inflict on others." A single tear, illuminated in starlight, slipped down his pale cheek. Where it landed on an ancient stone, a crack shot through the chip of bedrock. Neither noticed.  
  
"Then you admit it," Yolei shouted. "You admit that you will never relent in your greed for domination! I should have let those digimon kill you in the forest—to finally give you the justice for all those lives you've destroyed."  
  
Ken stood helpless before her, offering no defense. What could he say?   
  
Unbeknownst to the pair, tiny cobweb cracks in a stone at Ken's feet had begun to carve out a strange shape. Yolei might have recognized the general outline, had she seen it, but not the specific details.   
  
"You don't even try to defend yourself! Are you that proud of everything you've done? Well, I will not let you continue in your cruel reign over this world! Do you hear me, I will not let you!"  
  
Ken's eyes dropped in overwhelming shame, and only then did he noticed the shape at his feet. He bent to investigate it further and pried it gently from the stone around it.   
  
His sudden motion set off Yolei's hair-trigger senses, and she was sure he was making his move. While he was still bent over, she charged him, uncertain exactly of what she was doing but determined to end this battle once and for all. She lifted the star high above her head, aware of the burns like fire that licked at her skin but uncaring. 


	15. And it will Never Be the Same

And then a cool, cerulean glow suffused the passage as far as anyone could see. Yolei's arms suddenly felt as if they were falling through thick honey, and she saw—as if her eyes had suddenly cleared—what she was about to do. Horrified, she tried to stop the downward pull of her arms, but momentum had already determined their course. She closed her eyes and pulled up desperately, straining against gravity and inertia.   
  
After a couple seconds, she realized that Ken was not screaming in pain and that her arms were raised above her head once more. She sighed in relief, and then the full import of the burns on her hands and arms hit her. She cried out and dropped the star, suddenly indifferent to the thing's fate.  
  
Ken saw all this in normal time and caught the star in his cloak before it fell to the stones. He could feel heat seep through the cloth immediately, but it was no more than uncomfortable. He set the star softly on the ground, still handling it with his cloak, and then rushed over to where Yolei sat on her knees, holding her terribly wounded arms in front of her. He hovered over her, unable to think of anything to ease her agony but unwilling to leave her alone with it.  
  
"You have succeeded, children."  
  
A familiar voice echoed through the cavern, and Ken looked up to see the angel-spirit in full glory before them. Pale blue light filled the air, calming Ken's anxiety despite himself. The spirit saw his suffering as soon as the boy raised those expressive eyes to him, and it traversed the cobblestones to kneel by the girl. She moaned as the spirit reached toward her and tried to draw her arms closer to herself, but he took them firmly. She gasped, anticipating torturous pain at his touch.  
  
Instead, his ethereal hands soothed the searing heat as well as her terrified and bewildered spirit. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Ken, I'm… I'm so sorry."  
  
"Quiet, girl-child," the spirit's rich voice gently insisted. "You were tainted by the black river that runs through Infinity, polluted by the touch of the shadow. You were strong enough to resist it until the very end and lucky enough to have this boy here with you."  
  
Ken shook his head. "If anyone should have been polluted by the shadow, it should have been me. She's good and pure, and I'm the Emperor."  
  
The spirit shook its head, and silver-blue hair danced in the breeze it created. "Even I cannot say why some are affected and others not. Perhaps she took her goodness for granted this time, while you recognize the darkness in yourself and have begun to fight it already. She was unprepared for such an attack and therefore defenseless. But none can say for certain."  
  
When Yolei's arms had faded to the pink of a moderate sunburn, the spirit stepped back. He clasped the star, and Yolei winced at the sight. He smiled, though, and showed her a hand that was unharmed by the star's dying light. "Outsiders though you may be, you are not immune against the perils of this world. Your burn and your few scratches that remain will stay with you even in your world." Ken glanced down at himself and noticed that all but a few red lines had disappeared from his previously bleeding skin.  
  
"You have done this world the highest favor you can, rescuing it when it needed rescue. You will continue your games, I think, but never again will you face each other as you once did. Never again will you be the bitter enemies you were." His robes fluttered in a wind no one else felt, and he smiled benevolently at the two. "Without any further words of esoteric wisdom, I will return you to the beginning and leave you."  
  
Hesitantly, Ken wrapped an arm around Yolei's waist and stood. She stiffened, then leaned on him wearily. The red tinge faded from the star's light, and a flash of hot, white light filled their eyes and warmed their faces like a bonfire.  
  
When they could open their eyes again, they were back in a cool, green forest. The moon glowed coolly overhead, and a single star twinkled before fading into the constellations around it. The silver and blue being was gone, leaving two exhausted teenagers under rustling leaves and digi-birdsong.   
  
Yolei looked on the ground and located her D3, still scorched and useless. She smiled helplessly at Ken and laughed quietly. "Do you suppose you could get one of your slaves to pick us up and carry us back to your fortress? I steadfastly refuse to take two more steps in this place."  
  
"If time has passed normally, I would imagine they're looking frantically for me. Once Wormmon locates me on the computer—which should be very soon—he'll send an Airdramon to retrieve me." He paused thoughtfully. "That never happened while we were traveling to Infinity. I wonder…" He shook his head, knowing full well that speculation about the angel-spirit's powers was useless.  
  
Yolei looked tired and content as she leaned into his one-arm embrace. She gasped a little when her still-tender arms touched his clothes, but she thought she could bear it for now. Sure enough, a whoosh remarkably similar to the one that had started this whole adventure sounded above the trees after only a few minutes.   
  
Ken—hardly looking the Emperor with his clothes torn and glasses lost somewhere along the way—took Yolei's hand as gallantly as a prince and guided her aboard the dragon-like creature's sinuous neck. As the digimon flew smoothly through the night, Ken put his other arm around Yolei and kissed her lilac hair. 


End file.
